The present invention relates to cigarettes and other types of smoking articles and, in particular, to cigarettes having filter elements comprising at least one organic acid.
Popular smoking articles, such as cigarettes, have a substantially cylindrical rod shaped structure and include a charge of smokable material, such as shreds or strands of tobacco material (i.e., in cut filler form), surrounded by a paper wrapper, thereby forming a tobacco rod. It has become desirable to manufacture a cigarette having a cylindrical filter element aligned in an end-to-end relationship with the tobacco rod. Typically, a filter element includes cellulose acetate tow circumscribed by plug wrap, and is attached to the tobacco rod using a circumscribing tipping material. Certain cigarettes have organic acid additives incorporated therein in order to alter the flavor characteristics and reduce the harshness of cigarette mainstream smoke. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,224 to Lawson et al.
It would be desirable to provide a filter element capable of reducing the harshness of cigarette mainstream smoke.